Hugh Thackeray Turner [also known as Thackeray Turner] was born in Sudbury, Essex, England on 8 March 1853. He was articled to Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) in London in 1874. Following Scott's death in 1878, he moved to the office of John Oldrid Scott (1841-1913) with whom he remained for seven months. He then moved to the office of George Gilbert Scott, Jnr. (1839-1897), assisting him on a number of commissions.
In 1883 Turner left Scott's employ and set up his own practice in London. In 1889 he formed a partnership with Eustace James Anthony Balfour (1854-1911), whom he had met whilst working for G. G. Scott, Jnr. The pair remained in partnership as Balfour & Turner until Balfour's death in 1911. Turner retained Balfour & Turner as the title of firm until his retirement in 1923.
In addition to his work as an architect, Turner was also a china painter and over a period of fifty years decorated hundreds of pieces in the Arts and Crafts style.
Turner was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1905. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Architects (FSA). From 1885 to 1911 he was Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. During these years he played an important role in the development of the Society.
Turner was elected a member of the Art Workers Guild in 1886 and was on the Committee of the AWG in 1896-98. He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1907 and was an active member od the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB)
His address was given as 20 Buckingham Street, Adelphi, London in 1882 and 1914; Westbrook, Godalming, Surrey in 1906 and 1914; and 20 Buckingham Street, Strand, London in 1920. Turner lived at Westbrook in Godalming, Surrey until 1937. He died at 20 Devonshire Place, Marylebone, London on 11 December 1937.
A biographical file on Hugh Thackeray Turner is available on request at the Enquiry Desk, Royal Institute of British Architects Library, London
Notable among Turner's work either independently or in partnership with Balfour included the Church of St Anselm, Harrow, London, with Balfour (1891); Wycliffe Buildings, Portsmouth Road, Guildford, Surrey (1894); Mead Cottage, Buryfields, Guildford, Surrey (1895); Goodwins Place, Rose Hill, Dorking, Surrey (c.1900); Westbrook, near the railway station, Godalming, Surrey (1900-03); The Court (15 houses), Buryfields, Guildford, Surrey (c.1902); National Scottish Church, Croun Court, Russell Street, London (1909); Northern side of Wilton Crescent, Belgravia, London, with Balfour (c.1910); Railway Convalescent Home, Shottendane Road, Margate, Kent (1910); and Phillips Memorial Cloister in Godalming, Surrey (1913).
See also:
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001
Drury, Michael. Wandering Architects: In Pursuit of an Arts and Crafts Ideal. Stamford: Shaun Tyas, 2000
Gray, A. Stuart. Edwardian architecture: a biographical dictionary. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., Ltd., 1985
Grindley, Lucy. The life and work of Hugh Thackeray Turner, 1853–1937. Diploma dissertation, Architectural Association, London, 1998
Mansford, F.H. ‘St Anselm's Church, Mayfair, London’. Architectural Record vol. 14, 1903, 360–372
Musson, Jeremy. ‘Westbrook, Surrey’. [House built for himself by Thackeray Turner for himself in 1899-1900] Country Life vol. 192, no. 29, 16 July 1998 pp. 50-53
‘Obituary’. Architect & building News 17 December 1937 p. 333
‘Obituary’. The Builder vol. 153, 17 December 1937 p. 1109
‘Obituary’. Royal Institute of British Architects vol. 45. Journal 10 January 1938 p. 258
The Practice of Architecture: Eight Architects, 1830-1930. Edited by Christopher Webster. Reading : Spire, 2012
Prescott-Walker, Robert.’Hugh Thackeray Turner: Professional Architect, Amateur China Painter’. The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society no. 27, 2003 pp.22-37
Stamp, Gavin. The English House 1860-1914. Catalogue of an exhibition of photographs and drawings. London: InternationalArchitect and the Building Centre Trust, 1980 pp. 44-45
Stannard, Robin. Artist in the Craft of Building: the Architectural Work of Hugh Thackeray Turner (1853-1937). Spire Books, 2012
Stannard, Robin. ‘The ecclesiastical work of Hugh Thackeray Turner’. Ecclesiology Today, June 2010 pp. 121-146
Stannard, Robin. The life and work of Hugh Thackeray Turner. MSc dissertation, University of Reading, 2007
Who's Who in Architecture 1914. London: Technical Journals Ltd., 1914